Rafael Nadal is getting night-session treatment for his first match at the U.S. Open, in which he will go up against wild card Rinky Hijikata. Diego Schwartzman and Jack Sock are also on Tuesday’ opening-round schedule.
(WC) Rinky Hijikata vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
With Novak Djokovic out of the tournament, Nadal is not only the No. 2 seed but also the second favorite–behind Daniil Medvedev–to triumph at the U.S. Open. The 36-year-old Spaniard is bidding for his third Grand Slam title of the season and is trying to maintain a perfect record at slams (currently 19-0). Only Wimbledon has not ended with the trophy, as Nadal withdrew because of an abdominal injury after reaching the semifinals. It should also be noted that Nadal is a four-time U.S. Open champion and not counting a retirement (2018 semis vs. Juan Martin Del Potro) he has won 18 matches in a row at Flushing Meadows.
Up first for the world No. 3 on Tuesday night is one of the most unrecognizable players in. the draw in Hijikata. The 21-year-old Australian was a college star at the University of North Carolina and his brief professional career has him inside the top 200 at No. 198 in the world. Hijikata spends almost all of his time at the Futures and Challenger levels and he just got his first main-tour victory via retirement in Los Cabos (he lost to Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3 in the second round). This will be a great experience for Hijikata and he could be somewhat competitive in the first set with Nadal a bit rusty, but this should be almost entirely one-way traffic.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 5-7 games
(14) Diego Schwartzman vs. Jack Sock
Schwartzman and Sock will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Tuesday. Their only previous meeting came five years ago on the red clay of Rome, where Sock prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Of course, Sock was in peak form at that point. Now the 29-year-old American is outside the top 100 (No. 108) and has a losing record (7-9) this season. Sock has never been great at the U.S. Open, where he is 13-12 lifetime with only one fourth-round appearance and zero trips to the quarterfinals.
An underrated hard-court player, Schwartzman is a two-time quarterfinalist in New York and he reached the fourth round last summer. The 16th-ranked Argentine may not be at his best these days, but he has lost in the first round in only two tournaments this entire year–none on a hard court. Sock’s superior firepower could help him for a while, but he probably won’t be consistent enough in a best-of-five battle against a counter-puncher to pull off an upset.
Pick: Schwartzman in 4
WWW?
Vamos Rafa!
rafa will be tested in the first….then cruise….and Diego in 3.
Spot on about Rafa.
Scoot, oh how ure so right! Lost first set and now has found his range! Rafa needs these tests! But I don’t want him to have any long matches in early rounds!
Love Rafa”s kit!! Can’t believe Rafa is going to be a dad!! 😁🤪
Been watching practice videos of Rafa and he has looked ominous. I feel very confident about his chances. I know there are concerns about the serve and only time will tell. It is averaging at a decent pace today and let’s hope he isn’t hobbled at all.
Rafa is my pick to win this USO. One match at a time and he still has a lot of work to do in order to win this match.
Agree with you VR. He looks determined. Great performance.
What about him losing the first set to this kid?
Hardly worth mentioning in the overall scheme of things . Id just say well done kid who had a good start against a rusty opponent.
Rafa is playing very well I feel and what’s most impressive are his aces especially when it matters. Placement is to perfection, I’m really impressed bcoz Rafa has always had to battle hard to win points, games, sets and matches!! He is playing good tennis, doing as much as he needs to!!! I like what I c! 😄
Upwards and onwards, Rafa!!!
#vamos!!
The first round is always tough especially if you are playing someone you’ve never seen play and who has nothing to lose. The lower ranked players have plenty of videos of the top players to prepare for the match.
The concern is that he is coming in with no match play. Also the abdominal. Will he be able to serve well? I am hearing that Rafa is practicing very well, but that is not the same as match play.
Fog was down two sets and came back to force a fifth set with Karatsev. Rafa’s next opponent.
Yes, concerns. I have concerns! I’m terrified. No idea why! Except I really, really HATE to see Rafa hurt! It’s not like he absolutely needs to win this or even do well here. He’s a freaking LEGEND and it doesn’t matter if someone else ends up with 30 slams! I’d just like him to be able to walk for the rest of his life – and run for another 10 years at least.
Oh that was very sweet! I want Rafa to be able to enjoy his life after tennis. But I do want him to continue to play tennis if that makes him happy.
Depending on who ure playing, ure opponent either makes u look like a God or amateur at times……..so I’m not too worried About Fognini who always tries to bring his best tennis against Rafa!! But Rafa will prevail!
Meanwhile, Emma and Halep are out in first round!!
Finally Rafa!!! Vamos!! Rafa has a lot of intensity!! He just looks happy that he’s back on court and he got a bit tested!! I think he looks great!! Love love love his kit!!! 😀
Yasss he looks so great!
Vamos Rafa! One down!
#BEL23VE
#GOATIMO
😛💙💙💙
Great to see VamosRafa and Hawkeye here!
Welp, Rafa managed to finish it on a break. I was terrified just watching the line score deuce, ad, deuce, ad, deuce ad, you know the dance. Just thinking oh, let him win the game and serve it out before you’re so tired you can’t serve it out!
But, really Rafa looked energized after the match and happy as a clam. I am soooo unworthy, sorry.
Rafa did it with a vintage DTL forehand! What a shot!
What a relief! First match in the bag! Rafa got a workout! He looked so happy after he won!
Next up-Fog!
The all important serve statistics .9 aces is good but just 57 pc first serves ? Anyone has the speeds? Anyone who watched match ,how was the serve ?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Olly_Tennis_/status/1564807346836193282
Sanju,
Just for you I watched my recording of Rafa’s match today. I was looking at his serve speeds in the fourth set. He was hitting 120 mph serves and mostly in the teens. Like 117, 119, 114. James Blake said after the match that Rafa’s average serve speed was 114 mph with a high of 122. He said that was a little u dear Rafa’s normal serve speed. He thinks he may be protecting the serve., but should loosen up as he goes along.
I did check some of his second serve speeds.the lowest I saw was 94 mph. Most were 102, 104. I did not look all through the match. But the speed is not a problem. Considering that he did not serve as the abdominal was healing, I thought he did well enough for a first match.
I don’t know what to look for with his ball toss. VR would be the best person for that.
James Blake said it was a little low for Rafa. *
I love these shoes. It has the years he won uso haha .hope 22 gets added lol https://mobile.twitter.com/Stroppa_Del/status/1564757036520316928
Any comments on this? I felt his toss was very low…anyone noticed it ? Technical ppl please ? Vr
https://mobile.twitter.com/VivaFernando/status/1564786680124563458
Good first round test for Rafa.
Rafa’s ball toss looked a bit abbreviated , maybe has been tweaked to protect the abdomen in the early stages?
Rafa looked a bit rusty in some aspects of his game but cannot blame him as he has barely played after wimbledon.
Fognini next.
I believe Rafa played as well as he needed to. After all he’s trying to protect the abdomen and not stress it unnecessarily. His serving stats were good, had more aces than I can remember and that says something! If he can improve on his serves in terms of speed thene that would be very encouraging given how he’s serving currently! So I think there is a lot of progress to look forward to!
Thanks nny